Sacrifice
by Tsuki-the-moon
Summary: With determination and faith, the dead are alive and the 9 family are back together. As things turn for the better a stranger is found in the emptiness. He seems to be taking an interest towards 2, and 5 is uncomfortable with that. The stranger is not entirely as who he seems. 5x2 9x7 6x4 OC/2. lots of family bonding, angst, conflict. story better than summary.


**author's note to all**

******I know 9 was three years ago, but I found it out this year, and I am completely infatuated with it.**

**This story will be about the stitchpunks getting a second chance in life, but as they find their life as a family, someone different and new steps in the frame. strangely, he seems to take a strong interest towards 2 and lots of stuff and this story is going to be intense with lots of hurt, comfort, love, family, romance and mystery. it's going to be great :D**

**Ch1- The awakening **

After the release of the souls and watching the rain pour down, the world around them for once seemed quite. It was in complete silence. The world was finally theirs. As the four dolls watched morbidly outside from their shelter of the workshop, it felt that things would turn out to be just fine.

It didn't.

As days passed and the rain continued to fall, the twins started to become agitated, darting about as if there were ghosts running a mock. They flickered their eyes at each other, seeming to find no more thrill in life, making up with time by standing in corners, flitting through the air itself. Seven didn't seem to take it too well either. The first week was fine, exploring more and more of the world itself, coming back to the workshop as the sun set. She didn't seem to mind, as a matter of fact, enjoy every single moment of her life in the silence of the world, grasping on to Nine's hands with a childlike grin of her own. But as the week turned to more, she appeared lonely, perhaps even terrified, her copper hands wrapping around her pale fabric of a body, missing the comforts of her friends and family. Nine endlessly comforted them, wrapping his burlap arms around the confused, but as the days wore on, he too seemed to have caught on to the sickness, missing a good chat with Five, missing the comforting hold of Two, missing the innocent laugh of Six, the sense of protection with Eight, and finally the wisdom of One. The four surviving dolls seemed to distance with each other, isolating one another with their spluttering obscenities driving them to the brink of madness. It was at that point Nine had enough of it. He gradually stood to look gravely at the other three, hunched up together, drawing what Six used to draw on the dusty ground. He grabbed his staff and approached them. The three looked up, eyes as mechanical they were, tired and confused, maybe even ready to give up on life itself.

"We've got to do something about this."

Seven nodded in immediate agreement, glancing at the twins flanked to her sides whom nodded vigorously. They knew where to start.

The trip to the library took time, but they had all the time in the world. The rain continued to fall as they made their way, the, great gray building bringing sickening memories to their non-existent stomachs.

"Spread out. Look for anything related to life and anything that could bring them back."

Nine watched as what remained of them nodded, running off with a heavy quest. He slowly turned and made his way towards the book that stood opened, the book that three and four had opened previously themselves.

Annuls of Peracelsus

The moisture of the rain had resulted in the opened book to decay slightly, the pages moist and clumsy in his hands as he moved the pages about. He knew it would take an awful long time to read all the pages of the book. It would take long and it would be a hard process. It may not even work. But it was worth a shot.

* * *

It had taken several days, days without rest or break, decoding each letter by letter, finding other resources, pin pointing ever aspect and its flaws. But it was worth it; oh it was very worth it. It took several more days, finding the bodies once again. Five's body was the first and the easiest to recover, lying wet and motionless where they had shared their victory, a victory that lasted short. One's body was next, after heaving through the wreckage of the machine, they were lucky it wasn't crushed. Eight's body was difficult to find. There was fear of the soft body to have been destroyed by the explosion of the barrel. But if the machine somehow survived, than there was still a chance his body survived too. Nine was hopeful. After hours and hours and the help of the rain clearing the debris, they found the big body, ripped and tattered, covered by many objects unknown. It seemed that the explosion had thrown the small light body far before the fire had burned it. They were lucky. A bit of stitching here and a patching there and everything would be alright. Six's body was one of the hardest to retrieve. His body had fallen all the down below the bridge and after many days, the four had almost given up. A miracle it truly was, for as the days never seized to stop raining so heavily, the river underneath the bridge had raised much higher, the flow of the river rapid. They had found the body of six caught in a metallic branch of a machine at the end of the large gap of the bridge, moving as the river moved past him. With many ropes and strength, they managed to pull six's body back up, largely helped by the intelligence of Three and Four in their reading of many books.

Two… Two was the hardest and most unluckiest. They had no idea where the body was after they had flowed him gently towards the hole in which Nine later discovered led to the vast ocean. They had already traveled through the passage in the library and through the vast sewers, but they couldn't find Two's body. The only one passage they had not explored was the biggest one, where it led to the ocean. Nine had briefly thought to give up, but he quickly crossed it out of his mind. He owed his life to Two, twice, and he had to at least try some more, even if it meant to risk his life. Collecting as many supplies as they could, they went back to the sewers where they watched the rain fall. Nine poked his head out and looked around, gulping at the large cliff side that he faced, the ocean loud underneath.

"Okay, we'll tie this rope around these bars and I'll lower myself down. If we're really lucky, and so far we have been, Two's body will be among the jagged rocks by the cliff. If I find his body, you guys bring him up using that."

He pointed at their creation, which was a thick fabric with two toothpicks supporting the structure, four thick thread tied up at the edges, connected to another that was tied to the bars. They had used reference from ambulance books where humans lifted the injured onto to carry them. They had studied many books of what activities called 'rock climbing' and 'harness strapping', greatly helping in their quests of retrieving the bodies. Nine motioned and the three lowered the rope, Nine slowly descending. The system was similar to the elevator at the sanctuary.

The rain poured down on nine as he craned his optics to look clearer. He sighed as he reached to the bottom, the ocean licking his copper feet. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't see Two. After a little while, he tugged at the rope, signaling them to pull him back up. He felt himself lift as he looked about once more, desperate. Something caught his eye as his optics widened, swaying to the left. _Please be it… please… please…_

It was.

Two's body laid soaking wet and rusting on top of a tall jagged rock, dirty and drenched. Nine gave a cry of joy as he pulled at the rope again.

"I found him! He's here!"

There was a small moment of silence before their creation to retrieve six and Two's body fell down, dangling in front of nine.

"Lower me down!"

Both he and the other lowered. "Stop! Hold on tight!"

Slowly, he swung, the creation's rope in one hand, bringing himself close to the jagged rock. He didn't stop until his feet touched the edges of the jagged rock, hoisting himself up on the rough surface. He smiled, copper hands smoothing the wet wrinkles on the elder's face.

"Hello Two…"

Quickly and quietly, he brought the light body up on the cloth, wrapping a strap around to secure the body. He tugged at the two ropes and slowly, the two dolls rose up and into the safety and dry welcome arms.

* * *

Slowly and carefully they lined up the bodies by order. They had changed and replaced the eyes for everyone, finding blue prints and spare eyes in the work shop. Above the lifeless bodies was the mask like object the scientist had used to suck his soul out of him and into the dolls. Nine, seven, three and four had worked to have it staying flat over the bodies. Using many resources that lay scattered, they had created a larger structure copying the structure that nine had fallen from around the bodies, the talisman to be placed right in the middle. Unable to duplicate the wire that was used to hung upon the talisman and the dolls; they had decided to re-awaken everyone one by one. Finding five the easiest, they unbuttoned him and wired the talisman into him. Nine hadn't changed the eye patch for him. He had thought that it would be too dramatic of a change for five and feared that it may upset him. Nine climbed up the structure, glancing down at Seven, Three and Four.

Seven nodded. "Do it Nine."

Nine nodded, pressing the sequence. The rain continued to fall, filling the 'mask' with rain water. They had covered the frames with what seemed to be called 'plastic', keeping the water in together. The talisman glowed, immediately launching open. The green beams struck the mask through the symbols and the water in the mask glowed bright green. The four burlap dolls gasped in awe as the water started to shrink, only to be replaced with more water. Some of the water already in the mask did not disappear, only the new water from the rain that fallen. Nine frowned, than smiled. He understood why. Seven seemed to have noticed too and frowned.

"Nine… How is this all possible? What exactly is going on?"

"The thing is the rain fell down after their souls were released. Their souls brought the rain down, which may mean the rain contains some or not, ALL their souls! What's going on here is that I'm giving them their souls back through the rain. But with the rain, it would mean all different 5 souls would be scattered in the rain. That's why not all the water is being used by the talisman. Not all the souls in that rain water is five's soul, so the bits that belong to five are being sucked in, while the rest stays there, because it knows it doesn't belong to the body. It doesn't usually do that, but I had to alter the symbols and add some extra in order to have everyone back into their own original bodies. That's why you saw me add the extra symbols there! Those are for specifically for five!"

He brought the four other symbols on a clear see-through material in front of them.

"And these are for the others!"

"You sure did you homework Nine."

Nine gave a small tired grin. "I had to. It's the least I can do."

They all sat in silence as they watched the talisman do its work, the rain continuing to fall. Nine had no fear of running out of water. He had prepared before-hand. Before they had set out to search for the missing bodies, with the help of Three, Four and Seven found a large empty clean barrel. They made it stand upright and created a hole near the bottom. The hole had tubing that let towards the mask. The barrel was over spilling with rain water after the six days of searching and retrieving all the bodies. If they lowered the tubing downwards, the water came out. If they pointed it upwards, the water didn't. Right now, the water in the mask was disappearing fast, the unusable water not moving. Three, knowing what to do, jumped on top of the frame and brought the tubing downwards into the mask, the talisman glowing brighter. Nine wasn't sure how long it would take. With a whole soul, it would take only seconds, yet this was souls scattered into millions of tiny pieces everywhere. It could take hours, it could take days. All they could do was waiting. As Nine sighed and dropped his gaze, Seven gasped.

The talisman had stopped.

Nine shot up, running up to the structure towards the small device. Was something wrong with it? Did it get broken by the rain? Are there not enough rain? Nine looked down at Five's body. It hadn't moved. Nine felt all the wires inside him stiffen. Did he do something wrong? He watched as Seven knelt beside Five's body, the twins coming to the opposite side, eyes flickering in sorrow and question.

"Hey… Five… Wake up…"

The body was still.

Nine clicked the talisman again. It opened up, but closed again. Nine frowned in horror. Was all this work for nothing? He gave a frustrated cry, stomping on the structure. He lost his balance and fell, Seven looking up just in time.

"Nine!"

"Oof!"

Nine fell on top of Five, who jolted right up as if he was electrocuted.

"OW! What was that for?"

Nine scrambled off, optics wide in confusion. The twins had backed off too, grasping each other's shoulders. Seven gaped, finally finding strength to talk as Five stared at them blankly.

"Guys?"

"Five… You're back…!"

"What? What are you talking about? Where did I – "

His voice was cut off by a short cry of pain as he grasped his left eye. Immediately he withdrew his hand, gasping, slowly patting where his eye patch was. He could feel the hole searing through the eye patch, although that was weeks ago. He looked up at Nine in horror and realization.

"I… I died…"

Nine grimly nodded. Five seemed confused, grasping at his opened eye patch painfully. His remaining optic opened wide, slowly coming to a realization as he looked around, tugging at the fat black wire connected inside of him.

"You brought me back…"

"WE brought you back. All of us."

Nine gestured the twins and Seven the four holding each other and smiling widely. Five was speechless, than a nervous laugh escaped his lips, finally a full blown one imploding before them. The burlap doll hugged them, laughing in joy, a small choke catching upon his breath.

"You guys brought me back! You guys did it! Thank you! Thank you! Where's the others? Where's…" he trailed off, eyes coming to a rest on the bodies next to him. Six's body stared blankly ahead. Five shrieked, scooting back, bumping into another. He whipped around to see Two, eyes closed, mouth ajar. Five screamed once more in panic, looking to see One's dead body, than eight. Nine rested a re-assuring hand on the doll, who seemed hysterical.

"They're all dead right now. Remember? You saw their souls?"

Five slowly nodded, seeming to remember. He reached down and touched Two's optics, feeling the glass protecting the electronics.

"New eyes?"

"Yeah, for you too. I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what to do with your eye patch… I…"

"It's fine. Two will help."

Five smiled, slowly getting up, taking the large wire off him.

"Now, wake the rest up."

* * *

Five watched in fascination and listened attentively as Nine explained what had happened and what was going on. They had chosen to resurrect Two next, seeing he would calm the rest of the others when they awoke too. Five seemed impatient, asking constantly if it was done. When the talisman closed, Five reacted exactly the same as Nine, worried it hadn't worked.

"Two? TWO?" he shook the body in worry.

"Relax Five. We had the same problem with you too."

"What do we do? Why won't he wake up?"

"Well, all he needs is a little," he brought his arms out, "PUSH!"

He brought his hands down hitting the other squarely in the chest. Five gasped as Two jolted up, eyes filled with manic, metallic joints tight around his chest. He saw Nine and grasped his shoulders, shaking his feverishly.

"Run! We don't know what it does! It can hurt you! Run…!" the elder seemed to be in panic, remembering only the sheer pain as the green light struck him. Nine gave a small laugh, re-assuring the elder.

"It's alright Two! You're safe! We're safe!"

"What? What, no it can – "

"Two?"

Two turned to face Five, who looked at him with the biggest smile Nine had ever seen. He launched forward, wrapping his arms around Two and laughed.

"Two! Two! You're alive! I'm so glad!"

"Where have I been? And Five, what happened to your eye?"

The elder shook the clinging Five away to examine the eye, frowning, and voice going soft and sad. "Oh Five… your eye…"

Nine approached them, taking the thick wire out of Two. Two raised a stitch, confused why it was inside him. He looked up and saw the talisman and looked around him, gasping at the sight.

"One… Six… Eight… what happened?"

Nine gave a small smile. "I think the twins will be better at explaining than any of us." Two blinked.

"The twins…? You mean…"

The twins appeared behind Seven, optics flashing, and their grins wide. Two gave a laugh as he reached his arms out. As he started to stand, he realized he couldn't. He looked down and gasped in horror, the sight freezing him up.

"What… What happened…" he choked.

Five cringed, grasping at the elder's hands. He had never seen Two this upset or horrified. He was always happy and making everyone else feel good. The twins rushed up, holding Two in their arms as Two shuddered, eyes unable to leave where his legs used to be.

"I'm sorry Two… there was nothing I could do about the legs… There weren't any spare parts… I'm sorry…"

Two gave a rough smile, seeming to choke as he tried to speak.

"T… That's just fine… Nine… there was… Probably nothing you could have done…"

He looked at the twins and gave a cracked smile. "I'm so glad you children are fine." The twins flickered and smiled. Seven came to crouch next to two, gesturing Five to help her.

"Come one Two, we'll bring you up to speed of what happened."

They effortlessly lifted him up, the twins following behind. Nine smiled, plugging the large wire now into One.

"Nine…"

Nine turned, Two looking at him with a small smile. "Thank you."

Nine grimly nodded, unable to take his eyes off what used to be Two's legs. Shaking his head, he jumped up the structure and activated the talisman.

It took a while, with Four's projectors doing half the talking, Five constantly rubbing Two's back, Seven holding the elder's hand. The elder reached out to pat Four's head as she staggered, Three holding her up.

"Thank you Four…"

"Two, do you remember being inside the machine?"

"Yes… I do… I saw Eight die, I saw Five die, I saw Six and One die" He casted a glance at Five who nodded too in remembrance "And I remember being free, flying into the sky, into the clouds, than nothing. And here I am!"

Two laughed joyfully, Seven, Three, Four and Five relishing under his comforting laughter. Two looked down and touched where his legs used to be.

"Did… Did I really do those things?"

Seven shook her head grasping Two's shoulders. "It wasn't your fault. You had no control."

Two looked up at the female burlap doll. Agony filled his expression.

"Child… How I missed you so. Why did you have to leave?"

Seven flinched. She never wanted to talk about that day when she left. She lowered her gaze, unable to face herself with Two anymore. "We were so worried. I was so worried Seven."

"Two… I –"

"Ouch! What do you think you're doing fool?!"

The five turned to see One sit up, rubbing his chest, staring daggers at Nine who smiled sheepishly.

"Go on! Explain yourself!" he raised his right arm to shake at Nine but gasped in horror and pain, seeing the mangled and broken metal where his hand used to be.

"What….. What happened?"

"Don't you remember One?" Nine quietly asked.

One growled, grabbing at his head with his fine hand. He stopped. One looked at Nine, than above where the talisman rested, than the still bodies of Six and Eight. He looked back at Nine, optics wide.

"You brought me back."

Nine smiled. "Not just me. Seven and the twins had a large role to this."

One looked about once more, seeming confused.

"We're here!"

Five gave a wave, Seven giving a small smile, a frown nevertheless graving her features. The twins hid behind Two who looked at One with a smile.

"One!"

One turned away, an angry frown forming. A small grumble emitted from his voice box in which Two caught. He frowned, wondering why One was behaving that way. Nine took the thick wire out, One staggering to a stand. He ran into the shelter, cautious not to get too close to Two, but also to stay away from the rain that continued to rain. Nine frowned, realizing there was no way to put the wire inside Six.

"Seven! Could you get me the scissors?"

"On it."

She jumped off, heading for the stairs towards the work shop. She ran past One who seemed to be still frowning, muttering some words beneath his breathe. He glanced at Two than looked off again, grumbling.

* * *

Three and Four, convinced by Seven, eventually came to One to explain what was going on, Four using her projectors to show their memory of Nine explaining it to them. One didn't seem too interested.

The resurrection of Six was quiet, as if he had seen all this happen before. When Nine awoke him, Six gave a gasp than smiled wildly, clapping his hands.

"You did it! The source! You did it!"

"WE did it Six. Seven and the twins."

Six's grin spread wider. He took the wire out, coming to a staggering stand. He seemed tipsy. Nine stood to balance him, grinning widely as Six gave another laugh.

"Go to Two and the others. They'll help stitch you back up."

Six gave a nod and tittered off, hands waving as the twins came to meet him with flashing eyes.

"Six!"

They hugged, laughter filling the air. Two motioned Five and the younger obliged, pulling Seven to find a needle and a thread to sew Six back up.

"It's wonderful to see you again Six."

Six said nothing but smiled. There was nothing to say after all. Four held Six in a tight hug, Three flickering as Six watched.

_We missed you Six._

* * *

Like his death, Eight woke up with an angry growl, struggling against invisible bonds, throwing Nine off.

"Eight! Relax, everything's fine!"

The giant continued to thrash, ripping the thick wire off him and looking about, searching for his weapons. He towered over Nine, growling all the same. He seemed to crush the other any second.

"EIGHT!"

The large burlap doll stopped, turning to see One waving. "Boss!"

"It's okay. Nine brought us all back."

Eight blinked. He growled once more as he clutched his head as the memories rushed back. He stopped, than stiffly approached Nine. Nine backed up in fear. He truly didn't expect Eight to do what he did. In one giant scoop, he picked him up, giving a big hug. Nine had imagined the experience being what the humans called 'bone crunching', but it was comforting, warm. He felt safe.

"Thank you."

Nine smiled, laughter escaping his lips. "My pleasure."

* * *

**So, what did you think?**

**Um, I don't even know if anyone's reading these, seems the movie was three years ago and no one reads three years ago stuff, but hey, I enjoyed writing this and there's more chapters to come :D**

**if you're reading this, thank you and don't forget to review in your spare time!**

**Thank you!**

**LOL- Lots Of Love**

**lolo**


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